Indonesia: Court Deals a Setback to Two Australians Facing Execution

By Reuters

April 6, 2015

An Indonesian court on Monday rejected a challenge by two Australian drug smugglers facing execution, but lawyers were divided on whether they can pursue other legal avenues to avoid the death penalty. The smugglers, Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, were convicted in 2006 as the ringleaders of a plot to smuggle heroin out of Indonesia. Both had challenged the Jakarta administrative court’s decision not to hear an appeal of President Joko Widodo’s refusal to grant them clemency. Lawyers for the state said the pair had no further legal recourse, but the men’s lawyer said they would take their case to the constitutional court. The Australians are among 10 people from a number of countries convicted on drug charges and due to be executed by firing squad on a prison island just off Java. Indonesia’s president denied clemency to the convicts despite repeated pleas from Australia, Brazil and France.

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